Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I decided to add a new weekly feature to my blog called Zoosday Tuesday. This feature has absolutely nothing to do with writing. But since my love of animals was first inspired by my volunteer work at the zoo and in turn inspired my writing, I decided to share some of the wonderful things I've learned about animals as a volunteer docent at the Kansas City Zoo.

***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone, and are not endorsed by the Kanas City Zoo.

This is one of my all time favorite animals. Not only are the intelligent and gentle, they are some of our closest relatives. They are part of the Hominidae family which includes great apes and yes, us, humans. The way to tell an ape from a monkey is that apes don't have tails. There are four great apes: Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Bonobo, and of course Orangutan.

Orangutans are the only great apes found in Asia. They are only found on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra and are divided into two su\b-classes named for the islands they originate from. They are the only completely arboreal ape, they spend their lives high in the trees, rarely coming down to the ground. They eat fruits, leaves, insects, and must travel miles through the trees to find the ripest fruits.

Female orangutans devote seven years to raising a single infant. This makes their reproductive rate extremely slow, which is one of the things that have led to their endangered status. But it's not the only thing.
Currently there are fewer than 6000 Sumatran Orangutan's in the wild and fewer than 50,000 Bornean Orangutan's in the wild.

We have six amazing orangutans at the Kansas City zoo. They are incredibly intelligent and throughtful creatures. Next week, I'll tell you the very special story of our youngest Bornean Orangutan, Kali Jon.

Monday, November 29, 2010

I heard at a conference that you needed a blog and a web site plus faceblook and twitter to get an agent, so I got on the bandwagon and started my blog. As I said last week, I’ve found this very beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to get me an agent.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting.

The action follows 11-year-old protagonist Lyra Belacqua, accompanied by her daemon, from her home at Oxford University to the frozen wastes of the North, on a quest to save kidnapped children from the evil 'Gobblers,' who are using them as part of a sinister experiment. Lyra also must rescue her father from the Panserbjorne, a race of talking, armored, mercenary polar bears holding him captive. Joining Lyra are a vagabond troop of gyptians (gypsies), witches, an outcast bear, and a Texan in a hot air balloon.

The Golden Compass

1) How would hour character deal with betrayal by one or both of his/her parents?

2) If your character had a daemon what would it be?

3) How far would your character go to rescue a friend?

4) How resourceful is your character?

5) Does your character have influence over people, even ones who are older?

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I decided to add a new weekly feature to my blog called Zoosday Tuesday. This feature has absolutely nothing to do with writing. But since my love of animals was first inspired by my volunteer work at the zoo and in turn inspired my writing, I decided to share some of the wonderful things I've learned about animals as a volunteer docent at the Kansas City Zoo.

***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone, and are not endorsed by the Kanas City Zoo.

The Giant Panda
To follow up last weeks post about the Red Panda, I'm going to talk about the Giant Panda. We don't have Giant Pandas at the Kansas City Zoo, only four zoos in the US are home to Giant Pandas, (the National Zoo in DC, Zoo Atlanta, The Memphis Zoo, and The San Diego Zoo.)

Giant Pandas live exclusively in China and are considered a Chinese national treasure. But there are believed to be only about 1700 left in the wild. The primary threat to these bears is overpopulation and deforestation. But the Giant Panda also has a very difficult reproductive cycle. Females only come into estrus for about 24 hours every year. If the males are unable to locate the females in that short time frame, they won't have a cub that year. (Also because they get so little practice, they often are unsuccessful when they do get together).

Researchers around the world have been working for decades to find the best ways to breed Giant Panda's in captivity. They use artificial insemintaion, ultrasound, and hand-rearing when necessary to help produce cubs. Only one panda cub was born in the US this year. You can see footage of the birth, and pictures of the tiny, hairless cub at : http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/animals/mammals/giant_panda/giant_panda_cub_gallery

These cuties are another bamboo eating species, and they have to eat a lot of the low nutrition, high cellulous plant to get enough nourishment. (Ulike the Red Panda who eats mostly the leaves, these pandas eat everything including the culm and stalk.)

They have the smallest mother to cub ratio at birth of any placental mammal. A 225lb female panda gives birth to a 4oz cub. She doesn't eat, drink, or defecate for up to a week after birth, so she can hold the cub constantly to keep it warm.

Have you ever seen a Giant Panda in a zoo? If you have any questions about Giant Pandas, feel free to ask.

Monday, November 22, 2010

I went through a time where I thought blogging was just a big time suck. But although I spend a fair amount of time writing blogs, reading blogs, and commenting on blogs, I’ve decided that I get much more out of it than I put into it. Here are just a few of the fabulous benefits of blogging.

It’s great to connect with other writers. I’ve connected with people who are unpublished, recently agented, recently sold, preparing for debut, debuting their books, and long published. It’s great to know so many people in the writing community. I feel far less lonely.

I’ve learned a lot about what to do and what not to do in ever aspect of writing.

I’ve stayed connected with my writing everyday because of blogging. Before starting my blog I used to allow days and sometimes weeks to pass without writing or doing anything related to writing. Now I’m connected everyday, working everyday, and I’ve made more progress on my writing in the last year than I ever could have without blogging.

What about you? Do you think blogging sucks down more time than it’s worth?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.

Today’s word is:

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY?
Attlatal: A new drug for ADD.

Attlatal may cause impaired judgment, hives, hypersensitivity to sound and light, bladder incontinence, heart palpitations, irregular breathing, flushing, diarrhea, sleeplessness, erratic behavior, headache, stomach cramps, drooling, excessive underarm sweating. Do not take if you have ever been pregnant, hope to get pregnant, or thought about becoming pregnant. Do not use if you have a peanut allergy, blue eyes, brown hair, or fingernails.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting.

Forgiveness, light, love, and soup. These essential ingredients combine into a tale that is as soul-stirring as it is delicious." — BOOKLIST (starred review)

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

The Tale of Despereaux

1) What kind of soup would your character make?

2) Does your character believe in him/herself? Do they listen to people who try to bring them down?

3) Would your character fall in love with someone from another species?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I decided to add a new weekly feature to my blog called Zoosday Tuesday. This feature has absolutely nothing to do with writing. But since my love of animals was first inspired by my volunteer work at the zoo and in turn inspired my writing, I decided to share some of the wonderful things I've learned about animals as a volunteer docent at the Kansas City Zoo.

***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone, and are not endorsed by the Kanas City Zoo.

International Red Panda Day 11/13/10Have you ever seen a more adorable animal?
This is a Red Panda. We are lucky enough to have two darling red pandas at the Kansas City Zoo, Fagan a 10 year old male, and Wen Dee an 11 year old female. (We hope that they do what males and females do sometime next month, and that Wen Dee will have a cub ot two in June.)

When I'm interpreting about these animal's I often find that people have no idea what a Red Panda is. That's not surprising, since for it wasn't until recently that science knew what they were. They were at one time considered a cousin of the Giant Panda and part of the Ursidae (bear) family. They have been also been called "firefox" which would make them Canidae (dog) family. Bearcat (Felidae) cat family. And many people think they are a relative of the racoon, (Procyonidae) family. But DNA testing showed that they are in a family all by themselves. The family Ailuridae.

The trouble is that they are endangered mainly by deforestation in their natural environment. If they become extinct then a whole family will be wiped out. That's why Saturday 11/13/10 was the first International Red Panda Day. Sponsored by The Red Panda Network http://redpandanetwork.org/redpanda/red-panda-ranger/. Zoos around the world participated and children had a chance to become Red Panda Rangers. Your kids might find these activities too.

I could go on forever about the wonders of this precious little animal that's about the same size as a cat. They are so secretive that for years naturalists had difficulty studying them. But they have been found in the foot hills of the Himalayas in Myanman, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. They eat almost exclusively bamboo leaves (up to 200,000 per day), and spend the rest of their time sleeping in the trees.

Their dense coat is so thick, even covering the inside of their ears and the soles of their feet, they can suffer heat stroke in temperatures above 80 degrees. (In Kansas City they have an air conditioned exhibit in summer and an outdoor exhibit in winter.)

I could go on and on, but they sure are cute aren't they. I hope you like my new feature, and if you have any questions about Red Pandas don't hesitate to ask.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting.

It's the year 2140 and Longevity drugs have all but eradicated old age. A never-aging society can't sustain population growth, however…which means Anna should never have been born. Nor should any of the children she lives with at Grange Hall. The facility is full of boys and girls whose parents chose to have kids—called surpluses—despite a law forbidding them from doing so. These children are raised as servants, and brought up to believe they must atone for their very existence. Then one day a boy named Peter appears at the Hall, bringing with him news of the world outside, a place where people are starting to say that Longevity is bad, and that maybe people shouldn't live forever. Peter begs Anna to escape with him, but Anna's not sure who to trust: the strange new boy whose version of life sounds like a dangerous fairy tale, or the familiar walls of Grange Hall and the head mistress who has controlled her every waking thought?

Chilling, poignant, and endlessly though-provoking, The Declaration is a powerful debut that will have readers agonizing over Anna's fate until the very last page.

The Declaration

1) Would your character want to live forever? What if it meant that no one else could ever be born?

2) Would your character risk imprisonment to rescue someone, even if they had never met that person?

3) Does your character believe what they are told by the authorities, or do they rebel?

4) Would your character keep a journal even if they could get in trouble for it?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

About a month ago I won a fabulous prize on Justine Dell's blog (come back Justine, we miss you.) The prize was a FULL, yes, I said FULL MS line edit. How cool is that. Especially for someone as comma challenged as I am.

The wonderful editor was Katie Knish http://katieknish.tumblr.com/ . She is starting her career as a copyeditor and I can tell you she has a wonderful career ahead of her. She was a total pro. And so fast! Within a couple of days of getting my MS to her, she had it half finished. Then when I e-mailed her and said, "crisis, crisis, I got a request for a full MS can you finish by the end of the week?" she said no problem.

Katie is looking for fiction that she can copy edit. Here's what she said in an e-mail communication about what she's looking for. "What I'm most interested in editing is fiction, and my passion lies with children's, middle-grade and young adult literature. Even now I'm in awe of the impact what I read as a child had on the person I became, and to be a part of creating those works would be, in all seriousness, a dream come true."

She's got a real passion for books and reading, and it is evident in the professional job she does. I encourage you to contact Katie if you have any projects that you would like her to look at.

Monday, November 8, 2010

I used to worry like crazy that if someone read my work, they would see my brilliant idea and think, ah ha, that’s a great idea, I’m going to write a book just like that. For the most part I’ve let go of that idea. While obviously no one can write the same story I would, or even really steal my plots, there are a few things I like to keep close to the vest. Because let’s face it, there’s nothing worse than having a flash of brilliance and then seeing it show up in someone else’s book, even if you never made your idea public.

Anyway, I’ve gotten over the idea that people are going to steal my ideas.

Do you ever worry that someone will steal your ideas and use them in their books? Have you ever found your sparks of brilliance in someone else’s published book?.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.

Today’s word is: Pingso

This is a new game that’s all the rage in nursing homes. It’s a combination of bingo and ping-pong. The balls are bounced off of a ping-pong table and the players have to catch the necessary ball to get PINGSO..

I woulda had PINGSO if Wanda Lou hadn’t knocked over my wheel chair and snatched that last ball.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting.

Here are some interview Questions based on: Beautiful Creatures

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﻿﻿ ﻿Synopsis

There were no surprises in GatlinCounty.

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.

At least, that's what I thought.

Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

There was a curse.

There was a girl.

And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Queestions for your character inspired by Beautiful Creatures:

1) How would you’re character feel about living in the same place their whole life?

2) How would your character feel about moving to a small town where everyone knew everyone else and they felt like an outsider?

3) Does your character have any family members that are seen as outcasts? If so, how do to respond to the family member?

4) Does your character believe in a love that was meant to be?

5) Would your character be with someone, even if everyone in their life told them to stay away from that person?

Monday, November 1, 2010

I’m still trying to figure this one out. For every rule, there are stories of people who break them and still get published. I often hear that people who are published can break the rules, but debut authors need to follow them to the letter. Then I read a debut author who broke all the rules.

So what’s up with this? I’m what my mother calls a “first born rule follower” so if I know there is a rule for something, I’m going to try to follow it. But I don’t want my writing to feel boxed in. On the other hand, I can be totally scatter brained and I am not detail oriented at all, so I often “break rules” simply because I just forgot there was a darned rule. Maybe I should make that my number one rule, to remember all the rules.

What about you guys. What rules do you think are important, and what rules do you think can be broken?

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Melissa's Myths for Mondays

Starting on Monday 8/23/10 I am going to be posting some of the things I believed about writing and the publishing industry before I ventured into this wonderful journey, and some of the things I’ve learned since. Many of you may never have held the mythologies that I have or fallen into the pit falls that I’ve experienced, but if you have I hope these entries will demonstrate that you’re not alone. For those of you who are newer on your journey than I am, I hope that you can learn from me, and my wonderful followers. That’s what the writing community is all about.

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Why I Write

I've always had a very strained relationship with Grammar and Punctuation (and don't even talk to me about Spelling, he and I are from different planets.) Early in my life, I checked writing or anything that had to do with writing off my list of "career options". How could I dream of being a writer, journalist, English teacher, if I couldn't tell a gerund from a dangling modifier. But yet, I always had these stories.

Stories inundated my brain from the time I woke up, until well after I should have been asleep. They caused me to stare into space during most of my classes and led my teachers to believe that I was developmentally disabled. Characters bantered back and forth in my head and frequently slipped out into open conversations with me, making me appear to be delusional. Fortunately, I was neither.

Finally after years of trying to fit myself into an unsuitable career, I decided to release my stories by writing them down. It was amazing. Characters who were stunted, ever trapped in chrysalis could unfurl their wings and take flight. Light, color, and texture was blasted onto venues that had been hidden in shadow. Plots could unfold and be resolved, instead of looping back to the beginning over and over again.

So now I know that I am a writer. I'm attempting to make the aquaintance of Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling, and I'm making some progress in our relationship. But I've also come to realize that writing is about a lot more than dangling modifiers. It's about crafting a story. But for me writing is not enough. I want to be published as well. So that's my goal, and I'll keep at it no matter how long it takes.